


Search Results For: Hot Redhead Twink

by Ozzer



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And I Love That That Is A Tag, Artist Kylo Ren, Darth Tantrum and his Evil Space Ginger, Kylux - Freeform, Lawyer Hux, M/M, Or Ex-Porn Star, Police Officer Phasma, Porn Star Hux, Pre-Slash, if we're being technical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-06-09 20:49:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6922870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ozzer/pseuds/Ozzer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The apartment next door to Kylo's had been vacant for a while now, so he's surprised to get a noise complaint. He's even more surprised to see that his new neighbour is his teenage wet dream: porn star "Bren Starkiller" looking less 'redheaded twink' and more 'pissed off' than Kylo has ever seen. In other words, the Porn Star Next Door Neighbour!AU that no one asked for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So it’s been a little while since I’ve done any writing and the first time that it’s been for this fandom (gods a fucken hate Kylux) so this is my little exploratory probe, if you will, into the field. I may just keep it as a one shot but if the people want it, who am I to stand in their way?

Inspiration often struck at odd hours, Kylo had found, and that really was the best thing about working for yourself; you could roll out of bed at one in the morning and straight into your workspace which, in this case, meant the converted office that he used as a painting studio. He had woken from a bad dream which had actually given him a really great idea for a new painting and so he pulled on a pair of sweatpants and made his way through various piles of clutter before pushing a large canvas onto the floor in order to make room for a blank one on the stand.

Kylo grabbed a hair tie that was nestled between an old mug of coffee, or possible dirty paint water, and a pile of crumpled up paper, dragging his hair back into a loose bun as he stood back and surveyed the blank canvas, picturing where all of the elements would fit and best complement one another. He grabbed a pencil from a pot of paintbrushes and began to gnaw on the end, narrowing dark eyes at the blank space as though it had personally offended him.

Music was required, he eventually decided, plugging his old iPod shuffle into the beaten up speakers that were shoved into a corner on the floor, grinning as My Chemical Romance starting blaring at a loud volume. Kylo wasn’t exactly the sort to care if his music was too loud or if it was one o’clock in the morning, but even if he were, it wasn’t really a problem. His neighbour from across the hall, Phasma, had managed to pull a nightshift and it was only the two of them at this end of the hallway.

Even as he began sketching the outline for the piece, Kylo could hear his mother’s voice in his head, nagging him about how he was messing up his sleep pattern by keeping such odd hours but he quickly shook the thought from his head, sighing in exasperation as he continued to spread the dark paint across the canvas. 

It was unsolicited comments like that which were exactly the reason he’d moved away from home in the first place, starting over fresh in New York and even going so far as to change his name to Kylo Ren rather than having to bear the name of Senator Organa. And it was certainly better than his criminal father’s last name. In fact, the only last name that Kylo may actually respect in his family was that of his late grandfather but then again his uncle sort of screwed that one up for him.

Dragged out of his thoughts by a loud banging on his front door, Kylo frowned noticing that he currently had a white knuckled grip on the paintbrush and that a massive black blob was featuring prominently in the centre of his canvas. Family will do that to you, he supposed, throwing the brush into the mug of maybe coffee and making his way to the door, wondering who the hell would be bothering him at this time of night. Maybe Phasma got off early and wanted to hang out?

As Kylo flung open the front door, several thoughts flew into his mind simultaneously, and he found himself voicing the first one before he could engage his brain to mouth filter, voice still groggy with sleep. 

“You’re not Phasma,” stated rather obviously while crossing his arms, not exactly self-conscious about his naked torso (he knew he was ripped) but having not expected to see a stranger at this time of night. He glanced at the dressing gown-clad redhead standing in the hallway, posture almost comically angry with arms folded across his chest, lips pursed and - Kylo looked down, raking his eyes over the lithe man’s body as he did – yes, even a slipper-clad foot being tapped. “Can I help you?”

This apparently was the wrong thing to say as the stranger’s fury seemed to increase tenfold, eyes ablaze with surprising fire considering how icy they were in colour. There was something about the man though that was setting off all kinds of alarm bells in Kylo’s head, and not just because he looked about ready to spontaneously combust. 

“I should think it would be obvious as to why I’m here!” the stranger snapped, continuing to glare daggers at Kylo in a fashion that may actually result in internal haemorrhaging if it got any more intense. But that wasn’t really what Kylo was focusing on. Instead, his eyes widened and he felt his mouth open slightly, gaze dropping down to those pink lips. 

“Wait, you’re British? Holy shit...” Because that’s when it clicked into place in Kylo’s sleep-addled mind. Why this man was so familiar. Though Kylo was more used to seeing those eyes staring up at him while their owner knelt naked on the floor, some stranger’s cock shoved into his mouth. This guy had featured in almost all of Kylo’s wet dreams throughout puberty and now he was standing on his doorstep in the middle of the night. 

Blinking a few times, Kylo suddenly became aware that the other man had said something. “Sorry, say again?” he mumbled, trying not to picture the redhead bent over a ‘teacher’s desk’ and failing miserably, a scene appearing of him in plaid shorts and a tie while blinking innocently and asking how he could ever make up that extra credit.

“I said why the hell are you playing that ridiculous music so loud at,” he glanced down at his watch before looking back up at the other, “One seventeen in the morning?” 

Oh right, the music. 

“Sorry, I didn’t... Wait, are you living next door, now? When did you move in?” The apartment at the end of the hall had been vacant for some time now and Kylo had really gotten used to it being just him and Phasma. But if porn star ‘Bren Starkiller’ had moved in next door... Fuck, even thinking that name was enough for Kylo to feel his dick twitching slightly in his sweats, hoping that the other didn’t notice anything was up.

“Yes I moved in yesterday. In fact, I do remember Phasma mentioning something about some recluse living next door, though she didn’t say anything about the noise,” the redhead snapped and Kylo couldn’t help but notice how unlike any of the personas Bren had played in pornos, he was.

Kylo wasn’t gonna lie, though, he was still smoking hot. Just very angry. 

Wait, he knew Phasma.

“Wait, you know Phasma?” How did the blonde even know Starkiller? And why hadn’t she warned Kylo that he was moving in? Hell, did she even know that this guy was in porn?

“Indeed. In fact she recommended the flat to me... Though I’m beginning to wonder what I’ve done to offend her.” Blue-green eyes narrowed at Kylo once more and the taller man suddenly felt a few inches tall, fiddling with the door and swinging it slightly on its hinges. 

“Right. I’ll, um, go turn the music down...” the redhead was still glaring at him, “Turn the music off?” He offered instead and was treated to a small quirking of the other man’s lips that was far too small to be considered a smile but still sent fluttering sensation tumbling through his stomach. 

And down to his pants. Damn it, not now!

“Thank you. Hopefully next time we meet will be on better terms,” the redhead offered turning back down the corridor towards his own house and leaving Kylo just standing like an idiot in the doorway, heart beating rapidly, sweaty palms and a boner to top it all off.

“Oh, and one last thing,” the redhead, turned back to face Kylo once he had his own front door open and this time, that was definitely a smile. Or at least a smirk. “You’re not nearly as subtle as you think you are, by the way. I know, you know who I am. Good night.”

And with that, the door slipped shut and Kylo slammed his face into the door frame. Well he had a few angry texts to send Phasma for not giving him some advanced warning about this whole situation!

But first, perhaps a shower. A really cold shower.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well gosh darn it, I never expected such a response from my deranged little mind-hiccup! I don't mind telling you guys, a manly tear may have been shed over the overwhelmingly positive response I've had. All of your kudos and comments have been really inspiring and I never thought I'd be planning a massive multi-chapter fic but here I go...
> 
> I was going to post this chapter at the weekend but turns out that the night shifts at work are really inspiring to write smutty fanfiction about an alternate reality where evil space fascists share an apartment block and one of them is a porn star... Ahem, anyway, I'll be at Comic Con in London this weekend (I'm so excited!!!!!) so I thought I'd give you guys a gift and post this one early! (All the mistakes are my own, and I apologise if there are many since I was too excited to post this to properly edit it!)  
> Enjoy my darlings!

As it happened, a cold shower turned out to be all Kylo could get anyway seeing as his heating and hot water appeared to have been shut off. He knew that something like this had to have been coming soon but he had hoped to speak to his landlord first and hopefully get away with only a verbal warning. Then again, that had never been landlord Snoke’s way. There would no doubt be a meeting later on as well so Kylo had that to look forward to.

Hooking a towel round his waist, after drying off most of the water from his still damp hair, Kylo made his way back to his bedroom, deciding that he may as well get dressed for the day even if it was one thirty in the morning. Making his way over to the closet, his eyes lingered on his old beaten up laptop and he found himself gnawing on his bottom lip as explicit images floated through his mind.

Damn it, the whole point of a cold shower was to avoid getting all hot and bothered, not to succumb to his arousal every time he even thought about a certain redheaded next door neighbour in a compromising position! But it had been a while since he’d watched any of Bren’s stuff and Kylo found himself morbidly curious to see that contrast between the submissive sex pixie on the screen and the stroppy complainer he’d just finished speaking with. 

He wouldn’t even touch himself; just have a look at one, maybe two videos and then call it a day. It really was just curiosity and totally not sexual predation... At least that’s what he told himself. Anyway, the redhead had said it himself: he knew that Kylo knew who he was – practically a blessing to jerk off to images of him. 

Not that Kylo was going to jerk off. He was just going to look...

Before Kylo could over think this anymore than he already was, he found himself sitting on his bed with his laptop open and a new, incognito tab open on his internet browser. He didn’t know why he still bothered – it wasn’t as though he was still living at home and having to hide his internet browsing history from his mom. Maybe it was more to do with hiding it from his neighbour. Not that it mattered. Or that the redhead was going to be in his house, looking at his history. 

Still, it was the principal of the matter. When you look up porn, you hide your history. Everyone knows that!

Finding it slightly odd that his muscle memory kicked in after all these years, Kylo’s fingers skirted quickly across the keyboard to type in the familiar letters. It occurred to as he hit enter that ‘Bren Starkiller’ wasn’t a real name and he made a mental note to ask Phasma later what the redhead’s name was. He certainly wasn’t about to start a conversation with him while still thinking of the man as ‘Bren’.

Familiar search results appeared on the site and he frowned slightly, finding the most recent video which was from five years ago. Obviously, Kylo new that the man wasn’t going to be doing porn for the rest of his life but he hadn’t realised how long ago it was that the other had stopped creating content. He wondered what his neighbour did for a living now and whether it paid more than making pornos did. How much _did_ porn even pay?

Clicking the video, Kylo scowled as a pop up cheerily alerted him to the fact that hot Russian women in his area were looking for an American husband and closed the window, quickly clicking back to the images of Bren sprawled out on what looked like red, silk bed sheets and running slender hands up and down his barely concealed body.

Already Kylo felt his throat go dry as the redhead crawled up onto all fours and looked up into the camera, talking to a guy who was presumably just behind it. He had to remind himself that this was just for research and that he was definitely going to ignore how his cock was already twitching with interested as Bren gave a bashful little smile, blinking up at the camera and shyly explaining how he wanted to suck the other man’s massive cock.

“Oh God, this is a terrible idea...” Kylo murmured, clutching at the edges of his laptop to keep his hands from creeping under the edges of the towel, even as a stranger appeared on the screen, pulling Bren into a filthy kiss before standing on by the edge of the bed, pushing the redhead down to lie on his stomach directly in front of his bobbing erection. 

That was a weird thought in and of itself. That one of the porn stars in this video wasn’t, in fact, a stranger anymore but rather a new neighbour.

“Ah, fuck it,” Neighbour or not Kylo was not about to hold off any longer and he spat into his palm before reaching under the towel to start pumping his now fully erect length while in the video, Bren was messily sucking on the man’s dick, big turquoise eyes beginning to spill with tears as he took pretty much all of it into his mouth. God, did Bren even have a gag reflex? 

It took an embarrassingly short amount of time before Kylo was spilling into his own fist to the sight of the redhead pulling back and begging for the man to come all over his face. Panting heavily, Kylo took closed down the tab, taking a few deep breaths to try and still his beating heart.

His life was so ridiculous, he decided, wiping his hand off with a tissue and pulling on a clean pair of boxers and a mostly clean pair of ripped skinny jeans. 

# * * *

When Kylo heard keys jangling in the hallway at about six thirty in the morning, he quickly flung open his front door to see a bleary Phasma struggling with the stiff lock on her front door before she turned to face Kylo’s sudden interruption, gun already drawn from her holster and aimed at his face.

“Jesus, Phas! Don’t tell me it was that shitty a night down at the station,” he offered his friend an incredulous look as the blonde quickly lowered her gun, continuing to try and unlock her door without so much as a ‘sorry’.

“Yeah, well another fun night in homicide, you know how it goes...” the police captain grunted as she finally got the door to unstick, putting her boot in the jam to stop it closing as she turned to face Kylo, this time sans weapon. “What are you doing up so early, anyway? I didn’t think I’d see you about until after midday.”

“I paint when I’m inspired. Not when the clock tells me to,” he shrugged, not sure how one was supposed to segue in to a conversation with their best friend how they met the guy that had him coming in his pants as a teenager. 

“Yeah, you tell, ‘em, Kylo. Don’t let society dictate when you can and can’t paint,” Phamsa chucked, running a hand through her close cropped hair. “So you want to tell me why you flew out of your apartment like a bat out of hell and scared the shit out of me? I mean aside from obviously wanting to catch me in my sexy cop uniform,” she offered a cocky grin as Kylo merely pursed his lips in response.

“So... I met our new neighbour – you know the redheaded guy who sounds like a fucking aristocrat,” or a wailing prostitute depending on the nature of the stick shoved up his ass at the time, “He said you recommended the apartment to him.”

“Oh, you met Hux? Now that I would have paid good money to see,” the blonde laughed as though at a private joke which only increased the depth of Kylo’s scowl. “Ah don’t pull a face; it’ll get stuck like that. And yeah, he was looking for a new flat in the area and this one’s been vacant forever so I figured, why not be neighbours like old times?”

Kylo tried not to feel the irrational ping of jealousy that washed over him at the thought of Phasma being better friends with ‘Hux’ than with him. The two of them drinking stupid cocktails together and laughing about British things...

“Well you know he’s a porn star, right?” He blurted out, only to be met with another laugh. Right in his face too. 

“He’s not a porn star, Kylo; he’s a lawyer. He _used_ to be a porn star and a pretty good one too though judging from your last comment, I don’t need to describe those details to you, eh?”

Kylo felt his cheeks heat up at that before he could even begin to claim innocence and really hoped that Phasma’s stupid laugh would draw the man in question out of his apartment. He huffed angrily and spun on his heel, intending to stalk back into the gloom of his studio and maybe get some painting done without being ridiculed any longer but a strong grip caught his shoulder and he heard Phasma’s door clunk shut.

“Ah shit! I wish Snoke would just replace the bloody lock already!” the blonde swore through grit teeth before turning back to Kylo and spinning him around easily. “Listen, I’m having a gathering later today with a few guys from the station and some people from the complex. Just a little welcome thing for Hux, really so you’re going to be there, yes?”

It didn’t really broker any objection so Kylo just sighed and nodded which seemed to be the magic code to stop Phasma’s death grip on his arm. She offered a bright grin before pulling her key out to begin another fight with her front door.

“Brilliant. I’ll see you there and wear something _nice_ for once,” she offered him a pitying look and he let his own door slip shut already dreading tonight. At least he’d get to see Hux again. Though he wasn’t all that sure that was a good thing.

# * * *

# 

Hunger had eventually driven Kylo from his apartment to go and buy more supplies by the time midday rolled around. He hadn’t realised how low his food supplies had gotten but given that all there was left in the cupboard was a box of stale Lucky Charms and a can of squeezy cheese – which as it turned out was _not_ a good combination – Kylo hurried out to the store to buy enough to get him through the week.

As he kicked the main door to the apartment complex shut with his converse-clad foot, he became aware of a lurking presence in the building and his eyes darted around before locking on to the form of his landlord, leaning against the wall in wait. 

Ah crap. 

How long had the man even been standing there waiting for Kylo to come back? He supposed that he knew that this conversation was coming sooner or later, but Kylo had rather been hoping that it would be late. And preferably not with an armful of paper bags. 

“Snoke. You’re probably wondering about the new painting. I know I said I would have it done by now but I promise that it’s nearly finished and it’ll definitely be ready in time for the—”

He was cut off by the older man simply raising his hand, effectively silencing him mid-babble. He fidgeted awkwardly under his landlord’s intense stare and clutched at the bags, waiting for the verbal backlash.

“Kylo,” the old man crooned, straightening up so that he was no longer slouched against the wall but rather sort of slouched in general, given how old the man was and how decrepit his frame appeared. “I did not ask when it will be ready by. Nor did I ask for you to give it to me now. I am merely here to ensure that you do fully comprehend our agreement, boy,” Snoke hissed out, levelling his intense, hollow eyes on the other.

Kylo opened his mouth but then quickly shut it, not really sure what he was going to say anyway and so instead offered the man a sharp nod, grip lessening slightly on his groceries.

“Very good. I expect it to be delivered to me by tomorrow evening. That will be all,” he quickly dismissed before sweeping out of the lobby and down the hallway, no doubt to menace some other occupant. 

Kylo breathed a sigh of relief, slumping back against the wall, eyes slipping closed, and feeling like he had managed to dodge a bullet on that one. Though the proof would be in the pudding when he got home as to whether or not his hot water was back on. When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by the sight of Hux standing at the foot of the stairs, giving Kylo something of a pitying yet amused look.

“Oh! It’s you... Erm... How much of that did you see, exactly?” Kylo pushed off from the wall, hugging the bags to his chest and hoping that he didn’t look like as much of an idiot at he felt. He noticed that Hux was dressed in a crisp suit and was carrying an honest-to-god briefcase and quickly forgot about himself looking look an idiot. 

Though admittedly the redhead cut a good figure in that three piece...

“What was that about?” Hux enquired with a raised eyebrow, taking a few steps towards Kylo and the front door.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kylo shrugged slightly, really not wanting to get into any of it right now and especially not with Hux. “Anyway, Nice briefcase,” Kylo deflected, shooting the man a smirk and enjoying the flustered blush he got in return, mind instantly flashing images of Hux’s blush in other situations he had seen. 

“Shut up. I just had to pick it up before a lunch meeting with a client,” the redhead bristled, pushing past Kylo to open the door and Kylo could swear he felt the heat of the other man’s body where their skin had touched, even despite the multiple layers of clothing between them both.

Content to let the other go for now, Kylo was slightly surprised when Hux turned back to him after stepping through the door, looking as though he were considering whether or not to say something. 

“You’re going to Phasma’s ridiculous ‘gathering’ tonight, aren’t you?” Kylo nodded, wondering what it was to the other but not vocalising this. “Good,” Hux murmured before catching himself and shooting the other a harsh look. “I only meant it will be good to know someone there in advance. Besides Phasma, I mean.”

“Sure, _Bren_. I’ll see you there,” he shot back, biting back a chuckle at the eye roll he got in exchange and suddenly finding that he wasn’t dreading this party of Phasma’s quite as much as he had anticipated.

The door slammed shut in his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowzah! Boy oh boy did my motivation fall out of the trunk like a dead body over a speed bump on this one! Firstly I’m super sorry this is late by a couple of ~~days~~ months and so I have made it slightly longer than the previous chapters. I found it so difficult to just sit down and write this one but youse guys’s kind words and kudos really helped me out.
> 
> To be perfectly honest though, I’m still procrastinating as I wrote my notes before I actually even started the chapter… Anyway, hit me up on Tumblr if you’re into all that. You can join my massive collection of (fifteen) follows. It’s a pretty super-secret club, I’m just saying. No more delays – on with the good stuff!

Gwen Phasma had, _definitely_ soundproofed her house at some point. Of this, Kylo was certain. And it must have been done to some improbably high standard, he mused, as the door to his best friend’s flat swung open and he was immediately hit with an almost tangible wave of sound that, no word of a lie, caused him to take a stumbling step backwards.

The blonde woman in question was grinning widely with one arm slung around some woman he barely recognised as someone from Phasma’s precinct (Bess or Tess or something) and the other holding a mostly empty bottle of some cheap larger. In fact, it was unclear how she had opened the door at all with no free hands. Maybe a foot?

“Hey, Kylo! You made it,” she shouted loudly over the rhythmic thumping of the music, “I was sure you were gonna be stuck in your studio all night like some starving artist! How’s that going, by the way?” Here her face took on a genuine look of concern for him and bless her heart, Kylo loved this woman so much.

He still didn’t want to answer the question though. If there was one thing other than art that Kylo was proficient at, it was ducking responsibility – just ask anyone in his family. 

“Urgh, yeah, no it’s all good. So did you get this place soundproofed or something?” Kylo briefly flicked his gaze over to Jess (That was her name! Jessika!) but it seemed as though the small woman was not paying attention to their conversation, her eyes instead tracking someone across the crowded living room.

“In fact I did, actually. If anyone knows how to avoid noise complaints, it’s the captain of New York’s finest,” thee ridiculous woman actually winked at him here as she continued, “And I also find that it keeps ex-porn stars from flocking to my stoop in the middle of the night.”

Kylo felt his cheeks colouring at this and he scowled at Phasma, trying not to flinch at the way Jessika’s head snapped back to regarding the neighbours with a raised eyebrow.

“Did I just hear that correctly?” she chuckled, turning away again with a grin as the people she had been previously watching came over to join their awkward, impromptu gathering at the door. “Oh hey, Poe! Finn!”

Kylo heaved a massive sigh that the others had the decency to pretend they hadn’t heard as Phasma shepherded him into the apartment and closed the door behind them. She subtly mumbled in Kylo’s ear something he didn’t quite catch about possibly ‘playing nice’ or some such other cliché before turning to face her work colleagues. 

“Hey you two, glad you could make it. I thought you had the night shift over at Missing Persons, Finn?” She gave the dark skinned man - who was sickeningly, in Kylo’s opinion, wearing one of his boyfriend jackets – a mock offended look, “Which of course, I would know about if you weren’t such a traitor who’d transferred away from us in Homicide.” 

“Oh give him a break, Phas. Can you blame him for wanting to transfer to the clearly superior team?” Poe snarked his fellow Captain, slinging an arm around Finn who shot his boyfriend a grateful look which Jess and Phasma just laughed. 

Kylo on the other hand was more than bored of this conversation already and let his eye roam around the room, definitely not looking for a shock of bright red hair and certainly not disappointed when he didn’t find one.

Phasma must have caught his absent searching as she gave him a nudge and gestured towards the fire escape, which Kylo now noticed was indeed open. He gave his friend a rare, genuine smile as he quickly cut his way through the throngs of people only stopping to pick up a bottle of something he didn’t bother to read the label of.

As he quietly let himself out onto the fire escape, he noticed a silver trail of smoke gently spiralling up towards the clear sky overheard. The warm city air was filled with the distant sounds of angry drivers and blaring sirens but in this space, looking out at the uninspiring view of the back of another building, the cacophony of New York seemed so distant. 

Kylo was broken from his poetic revelry by a sound that could only be described as audible distaste as Hux seemed to notice him and flick out the end of his cigarette into the empty alley below. 

“I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone else came out here and disrupted the peace. Though if it had to be anyone, I’m glad it’s someone I know rather than the hordes of strangers inside.” Hux wasn’t exactly smiling, but his tone was soft despite the words and Kylo couldn’t help but chuckle slightly.

“I know what you mean. It’s like, Thursday night – don’t all these people have jobs to get to in the morning? And I’ll never understand how it is Phas knows so many people.” Since the other man hadn’t explicitly rejected his presence on the fire escape, Kylo settled himself down on the metal grate next to Hux, peering out at the dull brickwork. 

Hux hummed his agreement before pulling out another cigarette and briefly illuminating the dim surroundings with the flame from his lighter. Kylo couldn’t help peering over at the other man as his pale features came alight in the orange glow before quickly returning to their darkened state. Frowning slightly, Kylo noted how serious and pensive Hux seemed, not at all like the man he knew from the internet.

And because Kylo had no filter, he blurted this out and shattered the companionable silence that had settled over them both like a blanket in the slight chill of the early September night.

“You’re different to how I imagined you. I mean, not that I’ve been imagining you! Or that it’s bad, the way you are. It’s good! I mean, you know, you’re a little sarcastic and kind of mean but, like, it’s really good…” Kylo slammed his mouth, his jaw making a clicking noise as he did so and waited for the backlash that was no doubt incoming.

Instead, there was a dry chuckle which he had certainly not been expected and Kylo wasn’t sure if he liked the sound or not. It sounded forced and slightly unpleasant.

“Of course I’m not like you imagined,” Hux drawled out, taking a long drag of his cigarette and letting the smoke out slowly before continuing, Kylo remaining silent as he waited. “You saw me in porn, yes? Did you really think I went around my day to day life in tiny shorts and tight shirts that say ‘slut’ on them?” 

Hux quirked an eyebrow, looking at Kylo with a blessedly amused expression as the dark haired man struggled with an answer, his mind having been fried by the redhead’s response.

“Er, well, no – of course not, it’s… I…”

Hux thankfully saved him from any more mindless stuttering, pressing on.

“Exactly, Ren. It’s all just for show. Just a persona. I may be putting my body out there for anyone to see but that doesn’t mean that people know me. That they know my mind.” Hux gave a slight shrug, looking away as he took another smoky breath.

“So does that mean that you _don’t_ have nipple piercings, then? They just for show too?” Kylo shot back playfully, trying to lighten the mood a bit and revelling in the sudden coughing fit that Hux was now having, receiving another scathing glare that he was beginning to enjoy.

By the time Hux had calmed himself back down – a miniscule amount of time really until the redhead looked just as unflappable as ever – Kylo had decided that he very much enjoyed being the one to make the other man get all hot and bothered and resolved to further this endeavour as much as possible in the future.

“Tell me, Ren,” Hux did an admirable job of changing the topic of conversation, “ I’ve been wondering – how does someone like you afford the cost of living in a flat like this?” Icy blue eyes were warmed only by the glowing ember at the end of Hux’s cigarette as he breathed in the tobacco and tar.

“Well it—” a loud whoop from inside interrupted him and both men instinctively turned to the source of the sound which seemed to be Jess and Phasma celebrating their victory in a game of beer pong. “Hah. I wouldn’t ever play against those two…” 

Hux was regarding him coolly again so Kylo cleared his throat and continued. 

“Right, yeah, well Mr Snoke – you know, Landlord Snoke – he lets me stay here rent free and even pays all my bills for me,” Hux’s eyebrows shot up towards his perfectly maintained hairline and Kylo chuckled, “I know, he’s really awesome. In exchange, he manages all of my art. So I paint for him and he deals with the sales.”

By this point, Hux’s brow was furrowed and he finished the second cigarette, stubbing it out as he replied. 

“That doesn’t seem very fair. So you just _give_ him all of your art and he keeps all of the profits? Ren, I don’t know how much painting you do, but surely it doesn’t equate to purely your rent and bills.”

“It’s not like, I mean, I get money for my groceries and spending and stuff. Besides, I agreed to it so it’s not a big deal.”

An awkward silence, nothing like the first one they had shared, hung between them and Hux was fiddling with his packet of cigarettes as though debating a third. Eventually, he seemed to think better of it as he shoved the pack into the back pocket of his slacks and stood up from the metal ground. He offered Kylo a pale hand and it took the dark haired man all of one second to consider the offer before accepting the hand and letting himself be hefted up.

It took even less time for him to accept the next offer Hux made.

“Would you like to see about those nipple piercings?”

# * * *

When Kylo awoke, it was groggy, naked and covered in what he was fairly certain was not his own dried cum. Most notably, however, he woke up alone in his own bed. This was confirmed by blinding groping at the pillow to his left and finding that the far side was empty of redheads but oddly enough, still warm.

“Hux..?” he called out blearily, his tenor voice deeper than usual with sleep. God he hadn’t slept that well in days. There was some sharp swearing from across the room and as he turned his bedside lamp on, the sight of Hux buttoning up his shirt came slowly into focus.

“I wanted to be gone by the time you woke. I wanted… To avoid all of this,” Hux said by way of explanation, finishing with his top button and folding his arms across his chest in a manner that Kylo might have picked up on as defensive, were he more awake and less confused.

“What, so you were just gonna go?” he snapped, clambering out of bad, not giving two damns about his nakedness. And Hux blushed at the sight. That bastard had the gall to blush, despite having been a porn star and all that the two of them had done last night.

“As I said: to avoid all of this,” Hux repeated, pointedly not looking down. “Honestly, Ren, you didn’t think this was anything more than sex, did you? You didn’t think we were going to wake up and cook breakfast together?” There was a definite sneer in the redhead’s tone now.

“Actually, yeah, I kinda did,” Kylo snapped back, taking a step closer to the slightly shorter man and using the two inches to his advantage as he frowned down at Hux.

“Well you though wrong. Honestly, you’re such a child, Ren. Not everything is a bloody rom-com. I just fancied getting laid and, well in all honesty, I sort of pitied you. The way you looked at me like some starry-eyed teenage boy.”

“No, fuck you, Hux! You don’t get to say something like that after… After all that!” Kylo gestured with a flailing hand towards the bed where the sheets were still strewn about in the aftermath of last night’s activities. 

“For fuck’s sake, Ren, it’s just sex! You can’t even say the word? You utter child.” Hux sighed at length, finally taking a step back and turning away. He opened his eyes again and levelled Kylo with a cold, empty stare, all previous passion and frustration gone from his features. “This was a mistake. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

With that, Hux turned to leave while Ren stood there, feeling like an idiot and just staring after the other man. He heaved a shaking breath in before growling loudly and shouting after Hux.

“Well that’s going to be a bit difficult with you living next door!”

His only response was the slamming of the door. Again.

# * * *

“And can you believe that even after all that, the guy was still claiming that he didn’t shoot those children and… Kylo? That’s the sixth packet of sugar you’ve put in that coffee. And you didn’t even ask to see pictures of the crime scene. Okay, now I know there’s something the matter.”

“What?” Kylo looked up from pouring even more sugar into his syrupy coffee to take in the sight of his best friend giving him her patented mother hen look. “Oh. It’s… Nothing. I’ve just got this paint-ing that’s been giving me Hell and Snoke’s breathing down my neck about it…”

“And you’re sure that’s it? Nothing else is bothering you what so ever?” Phasma was giving him an unimpressed stare, pursed lips and everything. She clearly wasn’t buying it.

“Well, it’s… Argh!” Kylo let out a frustrated growl, stirring his coffee with strictly more force than was necessary and spilling copious amounts down the edges of the paper cup, earning him tsking sound from across the table. “Fine, it’s _Hux_! He’s just so uptight about fucking everything! And he’s the one who’s thrown of my creativity, Phas, I know he is.”

“Okay, Kylo, you and I both know that _that’s_ bullshit. You’re just lazy. But what’s happened with Hux that’s put you in such a foul mood?” Phasma took a sip of her coffee, waiting patiently for Kylo to spill the beans.

“Nothing,” Kylo was now stabbing the plastic stirry thing into the bottom of his cup, wondering if he could poke a hole in the paper with it. The answer was no and he pulled out the stick with the end snapped off somewhere in the murky depths of his coffee. “He’s just so stuck up. I mean, after your party last night we might have… There may have been some _socializing_. But afterwards he just left! Told me it was a mistake. God he’s such a prick!”

Phasma let out something between a groan and a sigh, rolling her eyes before resting her elbows on the table and placing her chin on her intertwined fingers. 

“Kylo, really? That’s what this is all about? You know, I’ve had Hux bitching about this to me all morning and now I have to deal with you whining as well during my lunch break? And after I bought you coffee, no less,” she muttered, continuing to stare at Kylo.

“Hux told you already? And, hey! What’s he got to complain about – he’s the one who just up and left in the middle of the night for no apparent reason at all.” Kylo was, very rationally so in his opin-ion, pissed off that Hux would share something like this with Phasma and then, apparently, not expect her to tell him about it. Never mind that Kylo had just told Phasma about last night without the redhead’s say so, but that was different – he was the slighted party in all of this. 

For her part, Phasma just heaved a colossal sigh and withdrew her hands, taking another sip of cof-fee. “Honestly, you know are both such idiots. Did you ever stop to wonder why he would just walk out on you, Kylo?”

“Because he’s a dick?” Came the instant reply but the blonde just pressed on as though Kylo hadn’t spoken.

“It’s because Hux has always found emotional things difficult. He always has since he was little and I don’t think his family has much helped with that.” This news came as a shock to Kylo and he couldn’t keep the surprise off his face, but Phasma just looked a little pained as though she had said something that she hadn’t meant to.

“Wait, he’s got problems with his family?” That much, at least, Kylo could identify with seeing as he was pretty much the poster boy for daddy issues. And mommy issues. And, well, any other kind of relation issues one could have. “I just sort of assume he was the kind of guy who would be riding his father’s tailcoats or something?”

Phasma snorted at that and continued, apparently against her better judgement. 

“Let’s just say that I know you and your family don’t exactly get along, to say the least, but at least they’d take you back in if you ever asked for it or needed help. Hux… Well he doesn’t really have that option available.”

“What does that mean?” Was Hux an orphan or something? Kylo found that he was leaning forwards in his chair slightly, his own elbows now resting on the table, amongst the sticky mess his beverage had left, but his hoodie was already so ratty that it hardly mattered at this point.

“Look, Kylo, it’s not really my place to say. I’ve already told you far more than I should have. Just… If you’re that interested then you’ll have to suck it up and ask Hux yourself.”

Kylo chewed on his bottom lip as Phasma finished her drink and made her way back to the station to continue her shift. He stayed in the coffee shop until he was shooed out by a harried looking staff member who complained that he had to order another drink if he was going to just sit there.

Making his way back to the flat, Kylo made up his mind that he would try and put last night behind him and just ask Hux about his family. Or maybe he’d just try a Google search or two first.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow. Ah geez. I am soooooo sorry at how long this has taken me. But I've dropped out of university now so more time for writing for me and not essay after essay? Perhaps. I'm feeling better with my mental health at the moment too, so at the very least that might mean I have more motivation. I was gonna try and make this chapter 3K words fro you, but it sort of reached a natural stopping point and it would end up being super long if I tacked on the rest. So at least that means there's content for the next chapter!
> 
> And hopefully it won't come out in six months time......

It was embarrassing, to say the least, that the first thing that came up in his Google search results when Kylo typed the letter ‘B’ was “Bren Starkiller new hot vids”. Yeah, there was a reason that he didn’t lend his laptop out to other people and it wasn’t because he feared the ancient thing might break. Though, fuck, the thing was more duct tape and dubious smears by this point that the prospect may actually have been a possibility. 

But no, Kylo wasn’t looking for any hot vids today – or at least not quite right now – he was looking for whatever he could glean about his crabby, walking-out-right-after-awesome-hot-sex-y next door neighbour. Pausing before he hit enter, Kylo toyed with his bottom lip, clamping it between his teeth and really stopping to wonder if it was worth plunging down this rabbit hole. 

Because, regardless of what Phasma said he should do, Kylo wasn’t about to ‘suck it up’ and just talk to Hux about this. What sort of awkward starter would that be after everything that had been said last night? ‘Oh hey, Neighbour! Listen, I know you said that you never want to see me again, but I was talking about you behind your back with our mutual friend and just wanted to know more about these “family issues” that came up!’.

A slammed door to the face might just be the least of his troubles after that. And Hux was a lawyer; who knew what kind of legal shit he might try and sic on Kylo after doing something as dumb as that. So really, this was sensible. Really, Google was his only option. It made sense.

He hit enter.

And…

Okay, so those were definitely not pictures of Hux. Maybe if Hux were aging and had gained 70lbs and hated people even more than he did now. But this guy did look strangely similar, despite several noticeable differences. His interest piqued, Kylo clicked on the first web link – a Wikipedia article – and began scanning the first paragraph. 

“Born to parents, yadda yadda ya… House of Commons, 1986, whatever… Wait… Senior? Brendol Hux Senior? Does that mean that Hux is..?” 

Clicking the back button, and then mashing at it repeated when it failed to reload the Google web page fast enough, Kylo brought up the cursor and added ‘Junior’ to the end of his search and was greeted with the much more familiar sight of the Hux he knew in various unflattering images from his youth. Even after their argument, Kylo couldn’t keep a small smile from curling one corner of his mouth up in a moment of fondness. 

Shaking himself out of that train of thought, Kylo stopped for a moment to try and put two and two together, given what Phasma had told him earlier and what his good friend Wikipedia had supplied. Was it possible that Hux’s dad knew about his porn career? If so, that couldn’t be good for someone in the House of Commons. Which was like, British Congress, as far as Kylo was aware.

Sure he could do a little more digging and maybe there had even been some sort of scandal, but despite using the name ‘Bren’, Hux had never explicitly linked himself to his father with his alias or activities, so perhaps the public didn’t even know. Did British people even watch porn, or were they all as repressed as Obi Wan had been.

Frowning, Kylo remembered his surrogate Grandfather and namesake, who’d looked after his Uncle when he’d been a kid, vaguely trying to give him a talk about why he should avoid sex until he was married, back when Kylo had been, like, eight. The man had then gotten all flustered and had to leave the room from embarrassment. Kylo hadn’t really understood what the man was talking about at the time or perhaps he might have wished harder for the ground to swallow him up.

But really, now wasn’t the best time to be reminiscing about his oh so wonderful family. There was never a best time to be doing that.

But really, right now, Kylo should be putting energy towards thinking up ways that he could get Hux to talk to him again, or even tolerate him enough not to just completely blank him as he had earlier on in the lobby. Kylo had been coming back from coffee with Phasma and of course, Hux happened to enter the building when he’d entered the lift.

Kylo had been momentarily shocked when he’d heard that familiar, crisp accent call out for him to hold the lift. And on instinct alone, he had.

Then of course, Hux had seen who it was and had levelled him with the nastiest glare he could remember seeing in recent history and pointed made his way towards the stairs, even though he was carrying enough shopping that it probably weighed more than the redhead did. 

Well after that, Kylo had quickly scampered back into his apartment after he reached his floor, just in case Hux had somehow made it up the stairs as quickly as it took the lift to get there and had another of those glares ready for him. Honestly, it felt to Kylo as though he’d killed Hux’s pet goldfish or something for the looks and the evils he was getting from the smaller man. But boy was Hux intense when he wasted to be. 

And scary.

So what could he do to make it up to the other man? For all the times he’d jerked off to the sight of Hux in all sorts of precarious positions, Kylo didn’t actually have a clue what the other man was into. Obvious puns aside. 

He was a lawyer, so Kylo imagined that he was busy a lot. Perhaps he didn’t get a lot of time to just relax and chill out. Then again, if his rec time was so precious to him, why on Earth would he want to spend it with a man he’d sworn as an enemy? Maybe Kylo could do something with dinner? The man had to live off simple food or takeaways, right? To have any sort of success in his field, Hux was no doubt working late most weekdays so maybe Kylo could cook for him.

That was a great plan! Maybe something on Netflix to go along with it, nothing overtly touchy-feely. No candlelit dinner for two, just a nice gesture from a friendly neighbour? The only problem with this plan being that Kylo was shit at cooking. But why let semantics get in the way of a great plan?

So checking his cupboards and the fridge, Kylo figured that he at least had enough stuff to make some sort of tomato and pasta thing. That wouldn’t be too hard, but nice for Hux not to have to had cook it himself.

Thus, the menu decided, Kylo gave himself a quick once over in the bathroom mirror to make sure he was at least vaguely presentable before grabbing his keys and making his way to the end of the corridor before he could change his mind. Knocking louder than he meant to on the door, Kylo winced slightly and , at the last minute, placed his thumb over the peep hole so that Hux wouldn’t know it was him and just refuse to answer.

There was a long pause, longer than it took for someone to get across the length of a moderate-sized apartment, before a suspicious-sounding voice called out. 

“Who is it? For God’s sake, if that’s you Ren…”

There was a kerfuffle from the other side of the door and Kylo was almost certain for a few moments that Hux was going to just stalk of. Then the door opened a tiny crack and Kylo was met with the stunning sight of two very piercing, very angry, blue-green eyes. 

“Hux, now just hear me out, please—”

A very put upon sigh and the door was closed rather abruptly, though given that it wasn’t slammed shut was a definite improvement in Kylo’s book. Thought it did rather lead him back to square one and he was standing in the hallway like some sort of dim, unwanted puppy. 

“Hux..” Kylo tried again, though before he could complete that thought, there was the sound of a chain sliding and the door was pulled open, this time to show Hux’s whole body, and Kylo couldn’t keep himself from quickly giving the man a once over.

He was dressed casually, which was to say the redhead was wearing slacks and a button up shirt, but there was no vest or tie so that counted as casual for Hux. This did lead Kylo to conclude that the man hadn’t been to work today, so perhaps the offer of dinner wouldn’t be appreciated. Still, Kylo had come here with the very last of his chips, so it was all in or bust.

“Clearly you don’t understand what ‘go away’ or ‘no’ means, which should frankly concern me more than it does, but I imagine that you’re mostly harmless. So what exactly do you want from me, Ren?”

Hesitating for only a millisecond, Kylo offered his most winning smile – the one that often got the lady at the check out to accept his two month expired coupons for soup – and directly its full wattage onto Hux, who admittedly responded with only a raised eyebrow.

“Listen, I know I’ve been a jerk,” he had to keep himself from adding ‘even though I don’t see what it is you think I’ve done’ since it would no doubt be counterproductive and he’d already got the hard part of apologising out of the way, “But I really wanted to make it up to you. I like you, ya know? Oh! And I totally don’t mean that in a sex way. Well, it was pretty good – hah, more like very good – but I didn’t come here to talk about that...”

Okay, so the words were getting away from him somewhat, but at least Hux stilled looked to be listening and he wasn’t frowning. That was good, right? The eyebrow was still up, though, so time to try and lock this one down. 

“So, I was just thinking. You said you don’t like feelings and crap, and that’s fine. We can still be friends, right? Or at least just neighbours on good terms, so why don’t you let me cook you dinner?”

And up went the other eyebrow.

“Ren, I may be a little out of the loop, but I don’t think that neighbours just regularly cook each other supper. I know you’re trying to apologise, even though I note you didn’t actually say sorry, but how about we just forget all of this. And I’ll forget about the offer.”

Wow, so that hurt. Something must have shown on Kylo’s face because Hux then made a small ‘tsking’ noise and folded his arms across his chest, muttering something along the lines of ‘over friendly Americans’ under his breath.

“If I say yes, will you stop looking at me like some sort of pitiful road kill?”

“Absolutely,” Kylo shot back, his grin quickly returning though he didn’t quite remember when it had gone in the first place.

“Very well,” Hux mostly sighed the words, though he didn’t look anywhere near as pissy as this morning, so Kylo was counting that as a win. “Just as a friendly gesture, mind you. I imagine it’ll be at your place?”

Kylo nodded his assent. 

“Yeah, you can come round at, like, six if that’s not too early? Oh and bring a DVD if you wanna watch anything.” Hopefully he wouldn’t bring some old boring black and white film.

“Alright, Ren. I’ll see you at six,”

# * * *

By six, Kylo was starting to remember why his only source of sustenance was an unholy combination of Lunchables, stale goldfish crackers, and cereal straight from the bag, usually because the milk had gone off days ago. He’d been resting the pasta in the pan while he waited for the kettle to boil, but had totally forgotten to turn the heat off and so the noodles were now slightly burnt.

Okay, they were very burnt, but really the only option since he only just had enough for two people. Off to a flying start then. Maybe if he put some salt and oil in the water like he saw those fancy chefs on TV do, the burning taste wouldn’t be so obvious.

Now for the sauce which, admittedly, was coming straight out of a jar but at least he was heating it up on the hob, so that was like cooking it himself. A glance at the oven clock showed a time of 21.55 which, given that he’d never figured out how to get it off its original setting, meant that he only had five minutes left. Surely that would be ample time.

Leaving the sauce to simmer, Kylo went to change into something that he hadn’t picked up off the floor this morning – and that didn’t have Frappuccino stains on the elbows – which just left him with a fairly nice shirt that he hadn’t worn in ages but still somehow managed to fit him and his bulk. It had been bought for him by his mother when he’d graduated from high school, only it had been massively too big on him at the time. Perhaps that was why it only just fit him now. Brushing some dirt off of his dark jeans, Kylo figured that those would be alright, or rather, would have to be alright since he didn’t exactly have any alternative.

As he finished buttoning up the shirt, a few sniffs of the air yielding some sort of burning smell…

“Ah shit!” Kylo sprang to the kitchen just in time for a loud beeping to start pounding out from the general direction of the ceiling and completely flooding his hearing alone with his other senses. Only, he could still make out the loud knocking on the door. Why did everything have to go wrong at the same time?

“Shit, shit, shit… Just one second!” He yelled as loudly as he could, shunting the saucepans off the heat and jabbing at the smoke alarm button. Hopefully it would be salvageable later, but in the meantime: Hux.

Kylo answered the door hoping that he didn’t look as harried as he felt by this whole kitchen nightmare and offered the amused-looking redhead a smile. Hux looked nice – but then he always looked nice. He’d changed his shirt since Kylo had last seen him though it was still just a button up without a tie. He was also proffering a bottle of red wine which Kylo had absolutely no idea whether was expensive or not.

“You’re wearing a shirt,” Hux seemed to be enjoying himself, even as smoke billowed out of the apartment and into the corridor, “You scrub up rather well, Ren.” At this, the redhead seemed to blush slightly, though it could just be a trick of the terrible lighting in the hallway, and cleared his throat, pushing past Kylo into the apartment. “Not that this is… Anything like that. Just a meal. Between neighbours. Though nothing smells particularly edible in here.”

“Crap, yeah I dunno how that happened,” Kylo muttered awkwardly as he shut the door, trailing after Hux into the kitchen where the other man was poking at the pasta sauce with a spatula. There were a lot of charred chunks in the red, concealed gloop which now just looked like some sort of small portal to Hell. Kylo wanted to crawl into it.

“The application of heat, I imagine,” Hux chuckled, letting the utensil slop back into the sauce, and even though he was making fun of Kylo, it was still the most amazing thing in the world to hear that chuckle again. Not quite a laugh, but so utterly Hux. “Honestly, Ren, did you manage to make this much of a mess out of pasta and sauce? It really does make me wonder what exactly you eat on a daily basis.”

Fidgeting awkwardly under the scrutiny, Kylo didn’t know how to admit that ready meals were his life, especially to a rich, fancy lawyer guy who no doubt went to expensive lunch dates with clients. Kylo wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought about all this before inviting Hux over, but at least the redhead was still smiling. Or smirking, really.

After a long, slightly drawn out silence where Kylo wondered how exactly to answer that question, Hux came to his rescue with a delicate hand placed in consolation on the solid muscle of his shoulder.

“Perhaps we should just order a take away, Ren.”


End file.
